MLB.com beat writer Brian McTaggart blogs about all things Astros.

Which players are you most excited about seeing this spring?

I’m back in town, but still on vacation technically until Thursday. In the meantime, Spring Training is casting a rather large shadow over me and everyone else who’s going to be in Florida in a little more than two weeks, so it’s time to look ahead. No more mention of Miguel Tejada or Jose Valverde.

The Astros figure to have several intriguing storylines this spring, from a new manager in Brad Mills and several new members of the coaching staff, to key new faces in Brandon Lyon, Matt Lindstrom, Brett Myers and Pedro Feliz. Then there’s younger players that are expected to make an impact, including a pair of rookies who could start: shortstop Tommy Manzella and catcher Jason Castro.

There are other interesting players who aren’t going to make headlines at camp: Chia-Jen Lo, Fernando Abad, Gary Majewski, Cory Sullivan, Jason Bourgeois, etc. I am going to be tracking the progress of all, but I am most intrigued by Manzella and Castro, and that’s simply because they could play huge roles. In fact, the club is banking on Manzella to do just that in April and Castro at some point this year to be a factor.

Which players are you, the fans, most excited about seeing?

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3 Comments

Manzella for sure. He?s pretty much guaranteed the job even though he hasn?t done much at the ML level. He?s tabbed as a defensive wizard; let?s see if all the Everett comparisons stand the test. I hope his bat is better.
Paulino is another very interesting case. He?s not guaranteed a spot. He just can?t take it easy in ST and wait for the regular season; he HAS to produce right away. I don?t know if Banks, Majewski, Chacin, Wright, Abad & co will bring a lot of competition but the pressure is on Felipe for sure.

I know you’re on vacation for a few more days, but take a moment to proofread your work before publishing and tweeting it out to the world. Several of these sentences are truly butchered. Your point struggles through, but it isn’t pretty.

First of all, dmeyer, take a deep breath. There is very little that is actually grammatically incorrect in the above blog post, and it’s clearly and easily readable by anyone with half a brain, so chill out. Blogs are simply public journals; this isn’t meant to be a thrice-checked, polished, newspaper-worthy example of journalistic excellence, it’s just a blog. Get over it.
Secondly. as to Tag’s question, I’m certainly interested in seeing Myers, but more than that I’m interested in Lindstrom. I think he might be the biggest question mark; if he regains his form from years past, he could be a strong closer, but he’s young and still relatively inexperienced. Other than him, I’m mostly excited about the young guys; I’m hoping Castro and Lo get legitimate chances to be on the opening day roster, and after seeing a few clips of Abad pitching in winter ball in years past, I’m ecstatic to see him pitch in ST.

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